The actress reveals how she came to her decision, what she wants to change in Hollywood, and which mom beauty perk she swears will make you want kids.

Olivia Wilde's movie career was following a familiar path: the leading lady, the romantic conquest. It's a fairly one-dimensional track that requires women to look a certain way (read: slim, sexy). So Wilde decided to do something about it. She stopped taking those parts. She wrote on her site she'd no longer make bad movies. "[I work] much, much less now, but at least it's all good stuff."

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It's not a choice she made over night, she told ELLE.com at the launch event for her new Conscious Commerce x Birchbox collaboration. (The star, along with her best friend Barbara "Babs" Burchfield, co-founded Conscious Commerce, a site that directs shoppers to "purposeful products" and introduces them to people they think are "doing a great job at life.") "In the last five years, I've really felt myself coming into my own," she said.

Here, we catch up with Wilde about being a woman in Hollywood, a new mom, and her very strange style icons.

Part of maturing is taking control of your life—I think it happens to people in their late twenties. You understand that you're no longer living for anyone else. You're living for yourself, and the art you're creating in the world or whatever you do, and you start to consider it a little bit more. You just want it to be an accurate reflection of who you are. So I just started picking projects that felt more true to myself.

Speaking of projects, particularly in mainstream Hollywood, Amanda Seyfried tweeted recently she had been turned down for roles because casting directors found her overweight.

That's ludicrous.

Right? I read you worked in a casting office though. Is there anything people don't understand but should know about casting women?

Casting is a puzzle. You're putting together a puzzle to tell a story. I would encourage all actors out there who are trying to enter into the business to really focus on what makes you different and unique and invest in that. Because that is what makes you irreplaceable. If you try to look like everyone else, you are very replaceable so you know, the bizarre wackadoodles out there who would think someone like Amanda is overweight—there's always going to be crazies, but I definitely wouldn't assume that. I try to give people the benefit of the doubt and assume the business actually rewards people with talent in the end. The good material rises to the top so believe in yourself and your individuality and who you are and if you're different. And if you don't look like who you're seeing on the cover of a magazine, that's OK because you probably are the next definition of beauty. Don't try to look like them because that's already been done.

I love that! When you look at roles written for women, do you feel like Hollywood's made progress there?

We've certainly made progress, but there's a lot of work to be done. There are a few really wonderful female filmmakers out there, female technicians, DPs [director of photography], grips, production designers, people who are taking over what used to be traditionally male-dominated roles within the industry. And I think now it's a matter of the industry investing in those people and supporting those projects and no longer thinking of women as a niche industry. Female-dominated films made more money than male-dominated films last year so we're not a minority. We're actually the majority. We're the people going to buy more movie tickets than anyone else so Hollywood can only benefit from investing in films led by women.

Where should that investment be made primarily?

The roles behind the camera: that's something I think is really important because that's the female perspective that's telling the story, and that's really powerful.

So any words to the girl in film school?

Keep going. We're waiting for you! We're so excited to work for you. Thank you!

You're also a vocal humanitarian, especially with Conscious Commerce (where you and co-founder Barbara "Babs" Burchfield highlight retail businesses that give back). But for a lot of people, activism can be intimidating. Do you have any advice for getting started?

The great thing is there's a cause for everyone no matter what your passion is. Even if you can't travel the world as we've been lucky enough to do, you can be so effective right where you are. There are so many resources online to find these organizations. My advice would be to try something. Don't be intimidated by it. Try something and if it's not the right fit, if you don't feel like you're reaching your potential as a volunteer, you can change your mind, but definitely take seriously your place in the world and your responsibility to make it better.

Got it! And Conscious Commerce has paired with Birchbox, which is all about beauty. So how has your beauty regimen changed since becoming a mom?

I've always kept it pretty simple. There [hasn't] been a massive change. Motherhood has felt very natural to me because I already had this desire to leave the world a little better than how I found it.

What about your body? Is there any part of yourself you see differently?

I swear by this: Your skin gets better after you have a baby! I'm going to get SO many people pregnant! [laughs] You know, people assume you have a baby, you give up the best version of yourself, and it's absolutely untrue. I think you're introduced to the best version of yourself, and it's one of the many awesome things about becoming a mom.

One last little thing: You have such great style. Is there any fashion icon who's inspired your wardrobe choices over the years?

I always had male style icons. I really wanted to look like a mixture of Keith Richards and Bob Marley with a little bit of like John Lee Hooker. Then as I got older, I wanted a little bit more of the feminine, same icons as everyone else, really when you get into the Jane Birkens, Françoise Hardy, Brigitte Bardot, and then it evolves as you evolve. Then I wanted to dress exactly like Charlotte Rampling and then Kate Moss. Everybody wants to look as effortlessly chic as Kate Moss. Now we're trying to grow our eyebrows back, so thanks, Kate! [laughs] Thanks, Kate!

Buy Conscious Commerce's limited edition Birchbox for women here and men here. (Wilde's favorite pieces are the Krochet Kids knit beanies, particularly the thinner male one—a piece "that I would definitely wear even though it's in the men's box!")